Ovie Makes All-Star History With Penalty

Forces first ever penalty shot

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RALEIGH, NC - JANUARY 30: Team Staal player Alexander Ovechkin #8 of the Washington Capitals reacts against Team Lidstrom in the 58th NHL All-Star Game at RBC Center on January 30, 2011 in Raleigh, North Carolina. (Photo by Kevin C. Cox/Getty Images)

History seems to follow great players, and Alex Ovechkin is no exception. We just didn’t exactly think the NHL All-Star Game would provide him a platform for record-breaking in this sort of way.

Sunday afternoon's All-Star Game actually provided a lot of entertainment with plenty of offense, some flashy saves and enough odd-man rushes to make a goalie quit. But it wasn’t until the third period that history unfolded.

Ovie was dancing around the blue line with the puck, when Kings center Anze Kopitar actually decided to play a little defense, poking the puck away from the Great 8. That led to a breakaway for the Avs' Matt Duchene.

Ovechkin didn’t give up on the play, but he didn't quite give his best effort, either. As Duchene went one-on-one with Henrik Lundqvist, Ovie gently tossed his stick into Duchene’s path, forcing the refs to hand out the first-ever penalty shot in All-Star Game history. Check out the video here.

Unfortunately Duchene couldn’t come up with the All-Star Game’s first-ever penalty shot goal, as Lundqvist stonewalled him, for what will now be a historic save. Ironically, Lundqvist says he wasn’t even sure if the refs would call anything.

“He still got his shot there so I didn’t think they were going to call a penalty on it,” said Lundqvist in an interview with NHL.com. “It was fun. A couple things happened out there where you don’t know what to think.”

Ovechkin seemed to enjoy the entire weekend’s festivities, including his second-round draft pick, his third straight title in the breakaway competition with some nifty moves and notching the first goal in the All-Star Game.

But he also got to share the spotlight with fellow Cap Mike Green, who played in his first All-Star Game. Green, who was named an alternate captain for Team Staal, participated in the new Challenge Relay and recorded two assists in the All-Star Game.